Kind of the same deal as the Detroit Mercy game ...
I was planning on writing, well, a lot more of a preview than this. But time got away from me last week and then time *really* got away from me yesterday.
So, I've got nuts and bolts preview content below for tonight's game. Programming note: I'll be there with full coverage. And, as noted on Twitter -- if you're there at the first media timeout, Dave Clawson and his family will be recognized on the court. Would imagine that'll be another emotional moment for today.
Preview nuts and bolts:
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Joel Coliseum.
TV: ACC Network Extra.
Announcers: Evan Lepler (play-by-play), Stan Lewter (analyst) and Matison Little (sidelines).
Series; last meeting: Wake Forest leads 1-0; Wake Forest won 91-82 in Nov. 2006, when Kyle Visser scored 23 points on 10-for-10 shooting, which is still the program record for most made shots without a miss in program history.
Records: James Madison 6-4; Wake Forest 8-3.
Stat to watch: 47.2%.
That’s Wake Forest’s effective field goal percentage, which is 286th in the country (per KenPom and entering Monday’s games).
Now we’ll see how improved Wake’s offense can be after a 10-day break.
Matchup to watch: Wake Forest vs. its shooting woes.
It’s only kind of tongue-in-cheek here.
The 3-point line was introduced to college basketball in the 1986-87 season. Wake Forest has never finished a season shooting under 30% on 3-pointers.
The Deacons enter tonight’s game shooting 26.4% on 3s.
Duke to watch: Guard Xavier Brown (No. 0).
After a 32-win season and its coach (Mark Byington) departing for Vanderbilt, JMU was bound to lose just about everybody who played a significant role in last season’s success.
*Just about everybody*
Brown was in the starting lineup for the second half of last season and scored 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, with 10 rebounds, in the Sun Belt tournament championship.
New coach Preston Spradlin was able to keep Brown aboard and has been rewarded with steady guard play from the 6-2, 183-pound junior, as Brown is averaging 13.9 points and 3.4 assists per game.
Deacon to watch: Guard Ty-Laur Johnson (No. 8).
How much of whatever Wake Forest has changed or adjusted within its offensive approach involves more of Johnson?
We’ll soon find out.
The Louisville transfer has had three DNPs and another game (Texas A&M) with 2 minutes. But in Wake’s last game, an ACC-opening win over Boston College, he was a sparkplug off the bench with four points and four assists, and only committed one turnover.
If he builds on that performance, then Wake’s offense can reap the rewards.
What’s on deck: It’s all in the ACC from this point to the end of the ACC tournament for Wake Forest.
The Deacons go to Clemson on Saturday with a chance to score an early Quad-1 win. There aren’t likely to be a whole lot of Quad-1 chances, given the league’s non-conference performance, so winning at Clemson — against a team that has a top-10 defense on KenPom and handed Kentucky a loss at Littlejohn Coliseum — would be huge win for Wake’s résumé.
It’s almost all going to be about the Sun Belt for the rest of JMU’s season. The Dukes head to South Alabama on Saturday for the conference opener and have a non-conference game against a non-D1 team (Midway) on the other side of Christmas.
KenPom prediction: Wake Forest wins 71-65.
What a Wake Forest loss looks like: JMU scores more points than Wake Forest.
What a Wake Forest win looks like: Wake Forest scores more points than JMU.
On a serious note, this winds up being a crucial game for the Deacons. And it really might be best boiled down to whether Wake Forest (finally) starts making 3-pointers at the clip we figured they’d be able to hit.
I was planning on writing, well, a lot more of a preview than this. But time got away from me last week and then time *really* got away from me yesterday.
So, I've got nuts and bolts preview content below for tonight's game. Programming note: I'll be there with full coverage. And, as noted on Twitter -- if you're there at the first media timeout, Dave Clawson and his family will be recognized on the court. Would imagine that'll be another emotional moment for today.
Preview nuts and bolts:
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Joel Coliseum.
TV: ACC Network Extra.
Announcers: Evan Lepler (play-by-play), Stan Lewter (analyst) and Matison Little (sidelines).
Series; last meeting: Wake Forest leads 1-0; Wake Forest won 91-82 in Nov. 2006, when Kyle Visser scored 23 points on 10-for-10 shooting, which is still the program record for most made shots without a miss in program history.
Records: James Madison 6-4; Wake Forest 8-3.
Stat to watch: 47.2%.
That’s Wake Forest’s effective field goal percentage, which is 286th in the country (per KenPom and entering Monday’s games).
Now we’ll see how improved Wake’s offense can be after a 10-day break.
Matchup to watch: Wake Forest vs. its shooting woes.
It’s only kind of tongue-in-cheek here.
The 3-point line was introduced to college basketball in the 1986-87 season. Wake Forest has never finished a season shooting under 30% on 3-pointers.
The Deacons enter tonight’s game shooting 26.4% on 3s.
Duke to watch: Guard Xavier Brown (No. 0).
After a 32-win season and its coach (Mark Byington) departing for Vanderbilt, JMU was bound to lose just about everybody who played a significant role in last season’s success.
*Just about everybody*
Brown was in the starting lineup for the second half of last season and scored 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, with 10 rebounds, in the Sun Belt tournament championship.
New coach Preston Spradlin was able to keep Brown aboard and has been rewarded with steady guard play from the 6-2, 183-pound junior, as Brown is averaging 13.9 points and 3.4 assists per game.
Deacon to watch: Guard Ty-Laur Johnson (No. 8).
How much of whatever Wake Forest has changed or adjusted within its offensive approach involves more of Johnson?
We’ll soon find out.
The Louisville transfer has had three DNPs and another game (Texas A&M) with 2 minutes. But in Wake’s last game, an ACC-opening win over Boston College, he was a sparkplug off the bench with four points and four assists, and only committed one turnover.
If he builds on that performance, then Wake’s offense can reap the rewards.
What’s on deck: It’s all in the ACC from this point to the end of the ACC tournament for Wake Forest.
The Deacons go to Clemson on Saturday with a chance to score an early Quad-1 win. There aren’t likely to be a whole lot of Quad-1 chances, given the league’s non-conference performance, so winning at Clemson — against a team that has a top-10 defense on KenPom and handed Kentucky a loss at Littlejohn Coliseum — would be huge win for Wake’s résumé.
It’s almost all going to be about the Sun Belt for the rest of JMU’s season. The Dukes head to South Alabama on Saturday for the conference opener and have a non-conference game against a non-D1 team (Midway) on the other side of Christmas.
KenPom prediction: Wake Forest wins 71-65.
What a Wake Forest loss looks like: JMU scores more points than Wake Forest.
What a Wake Forest win looks like: Wake Forest scores more points than JMU.
On a serious note, this winds up being a crucial game for the Deacons. And it really might be best boiled down to whether Wake Forest (finally) starts making 3-pointers at the clip we figured they’d be able to hit.
